IT'S been a very odd start to the autumn season, for boat and beach anglers alike.

We've had some extreme temperatures, reaching nearly 30C, and combine that with very clear water and it doesn’t bode well for the oncoming cod season.

The beach and pier anglers have really struggled, although there seems to be a glimmer of light on the horizon with a few thornback rays now starting to show on Clacton Pier and the odd ray now showing from the beach.

The boats have benefitted from calm weather this week and are still seeing plenty of smooth-hounds and bass.

The autumn codling are still at a premium and only a few small whiting have been caught.

Neil Marples is catching some of these late summer fish in his Walton boat Milore.

He landed 21 bass, with only two sizeable, weighing in at 3lbs and 4lbs respectively, and a bigger one lost at the side of the boat.

All his fish were caught on ragworm baits.

He also reported that other boats were catching smooth-hounds, mostly on squid baits.

The Estuary rivers are still fishing reasonably well for those late smooth-hounds and some bass on days when the boats cannot get out into deeper waters, although weed can be a problem, especially on the ebb tides.

The beach angler has fared less well this week, with the clear sea sending any self-respecting fish into deeper water during daylight hours, although there are soles and bass to be caught in those twilight hours.

Clacton Pier has now seen an early run of autumn thornback rays, although at the moment only smaller ones have been caught.

However, double-figure rays should be caught in the oncoming weeks.

Small bass and a few whiting and dogfish are being caught after dark.

The Frinton beaches are still seeing some bass, eels and soles, although once again weed has been a problem.

Walton Pier has seen soles showing after dark and now, with 24-hour season tickets available, it will make sole fishing more available to anglers.

Bass and wrasse are still being caught on and around the pier piles, although not in the numbers we were seeing in mid-summer.

The Walton Pier Club held their first match of the autumn season at the weekend and, with a slight breeze and coloured water, everything looked good for a good match.

Unfortunately, the fish had a different idea and only a small bass, flatties and a lone codling were caught.

First place went to Colin Harris, second to Ian Walker and third to Tyler Bone.

Colchester Sea Angling Club also fished the local pier for their ninth league match of the season and all 12 anglers that fished weighed in.

A varied selection of fish were caught - ballan wrasse, cuckoo wrasse, soles, pouting, whiting, gobies, dab, eel, bass, thornback ray and codling. Truly a great array!

Top rod on the day was Steve Yallop, with 2lb 15oz, closely followed by Mark Sessions (2lb 4oz) and Vic Pearce (2lb 3oz).

The heaviest round fish, caught by Olly Yallop, was a 1lb 10oz bass and the heaviest flatfish, caught by Billy Paquette, was a 14oz sole.

Colchester Sea Angling Club have their AGM on Tuesday, October 4th, from 8pm at the Grapes pub in Mersea Road.

All are welcome.

The high tides for the weekend are 6.24pm on Saturday and 7.24pm on Sunday.

If you have any photos or reports you can contact me at popplewell1@btinternet.com